Pilliavin Flashcards
what type of experiment was this
field experiment
What desgin does this expeirment use
Indepednant measures using observational techniques it is aslo a snapshot study
What were the IV’s for this study
type of victim (drunk or cane)
Race (black or white)
Presence of model
Group size
What were DV’s for this studytime
time it took for help to be offerd
NUmber of people who offerd to help
How were the ppts gatherd
Opportunuty sample of passengers on a NYC subway during middle of the day(11am to 3pm) through the period from 15April to 26 june 1986
mean number of people per car during these hours
43
who played the role of the victim and modles
Confedreates
Describe the confederates
General studies students from columbia uni NYC between 24 and 35yrs
describe the 4 teams
Each team consisted of a male victim, male model and 2 female observers to record activity
How many trails was there
103
where did the victim always stand
Next to the pole in the centre of the crtical area
How long did take for the victim staged a collpase
70seconds and remained on the floir until help was forthcoming or until the train stopped when the model hlped him up
how many trials did the victim smell of liqour
38
65 trials
Appreaed sober and carried a black cane
how much more is a person using a cane likely to get help more than drunk
95% versus 50%
what % of cane people were helped before the model acted
87% whereas 17% the drunk victimes were helped
median time for someone to help the cane person
5 seconds
median time for someone to help the drunk person (non model conditiojn)
109 seconds
Race and gender results
90% of first helpers were male whereas 60% of passengers were male
Conclusions
action will depend on whether the rewards of helping are greater than the costs of not helping
the situtaion creates heightend arousal the decison to help is motivated by a selfish desire to get rid of the unpleasent emotional state
was diffusion of responsibility found?
no
positives
large sample, ethnic diversity, generalisable, high level of control, fairly ecologically valid, reliable, quan + qual data
negatives
atypical, only urban people, extraneous variables, dramatic scene, less drunk trials, no consent, can’t withdraw
How were the ppts gatherd?
Opportunity
What was the Critical area-early condition?
Model stood in critical area & asked if he needed help after 70 seconds
What was the Critical area-late condition?
Model stood in critical area & asked if he needed help after 150 seconds
What was the quantitative data?
Number of helpers & speed at which they offered help
*Race, gender and location of helpers
*If anyone moved out of the critical area
What was the qualitative data?
Comments made by passengers during the incident
Strengths
Field experiment
-High ecological validity
-Natural setting and behavior
*Both quantitative and qualitative data collected
Weaknesses
*Field experiment
-Less control over variables
-Problems of recording data (especially verbal comments)
Difficult to replicate
